Sept. 18: Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute Rolls Out Lunar Rover

"Scarab" Will Test Drilling Technology for NASA

EVENT: The Robotics Institute in Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science will roll out and demonstrate a robotic prospector, "Scarab." The four-wheeled rover was built for NASA to test robotic technologies that could be used to find recoverable resources on the moon. Scarab is equipped with a Canadian-built drill that can obtain one-meter-long geologic cores for analysis. Scarab's novel suspension enables it to lower its belly to the ground for drilling operations. The robot operates on only the electrical power required to illuminate a 100-watt light bulb.

The Scarab project is separate from Carnegie Mellon's pursuit of the Google Lunar X-Prize, which features a $20 million grand prize for operating a privately funded robot on the moon by 2012. Scarab, by contrast, is sponsored by NASA and will be tested only on Earth.

WHEN: 10 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 20.

WHERE: The High Bay on the first floor of Newell-Simon Hall on the Carnegie Mellon campus. Newell-Simon Hall is situated behind Hamburg Hall and can be accessed from Forbes Avenue via the driveway between Hamburg Hall and the Collaborative Innovation Center (CIC). Parking is unavailable in front of Newell-Simon because of nearby construction; however, parking is available in the CIC garage, which is accessible from South Neville Street.